Locally owned by four partners, Tom Seyer, Jim Pharris, Spencer Taylor and Wesley Graviett, the trailer manufacturing company was established at the Sikeston Business, Education and Technology Park about six and half years ago.

They originally broke ground for their facility in November 1999, Taylor said, "and we built our first trailer, had it ready to deliver on Feb. 15, 2000."

The company presently has 75,000 square feet between its production and office areas.

The expansion will add 45,000 square feet, according to Taylor.

"It will be added space for production," he said. "We're going to take on a couple of new product lines."

The plant currently builds several types of trailer including grain trailers, end dumps, bottom dumps, elliptical scrap demo trailers and walking floors, according to Taylor.

"We're going to start building dump bodies for dump trucks and a new lightweight bottom dump," he said.

Trailers built by Construction Trailer Specialists are sold "all over the U.S., Alaska, South America," Taylor said.

"About five a day come out of this plant," said Pharris. He said it takes about 10 days of work to finish each trailer.

In their first year of business, the company built 300 trailers. Their last fiscal year they put out 1,250 trailers.

Taylor said the plant began with about 25 employees and has grown to where they now employ 104. They expect to initially hire another 20-25 to staff the expansion.

"They make a lot of contributions to the economy," said Ed Dust, director of the Sikeston Department of Economic Development.

In June 2005, the city executed a deed of sale for 10 acres at the Sikeston Business, Education and Technology Park for the expansion. Construction started in May.

"Eftink Construction Company of Sikeston is doing the expansion work for us," Taylor said. "We're hoping to be in this thing before October, November."